Dojang overtaken by a McDojang

[taiji fajin]

The dojang where I teach is under threat of becoming a serious McDojang. In fact, it wouldn't be that much of a lie to call it one, and this is troubling me greatly. Here is the story, it is fairly long, but please read it as I could use the help:

We use to have a high ranking teacher, who ended up leaving and giving our club to one of the black belts (highest member left at the school was a black belt, there were 5 of us). He gave the school to the black belt who he could most "control" from a distance. However, there was an agreement between this black belt and the other black belts, since we are all at the same level. We all agreed to work as a team to teach the class, and he would just do the "official" dealings with the organization.

Most of the black belts are trying to run the club normally, but the one who officially runs the school continues to do things behind our backs. The most recent thing was promoting of someone to black belt who by NO means deserved it. This person came back to our club as a brown belt after years of being gone, barely comes to practice, doesn't know any of her stuff, and never really tries. We all talked and agreed that she wouldn't pass, as she had come to barely 10 hours of practice in the past year!

Then, one day she shows up wearing a black belt! She had talked to the "owner" black belt and said she wanted to test at another school as she was going to Brazil for a year and wouldn't have a chance to test for over a year. He agreed to send in the paper work for her to pass, despite all the black belts agreeing that she shouldn't. Now she suddenly is not going to Brazil, and she is going to be here for a year. This person cannot even remember low belt techniques, yet she is a black belt.

Now when our club gets back into full swing (we are a club with a university), our entire school is going to see this person, who everyone knows is not good and never comes, is a black belt. There is no way that I can get people to think that a black belt at our club means anything anymore. Everyone will have the view that if you just come and pay the dues, you will promote. This undermines me as an instructor, and our martial art and our school as a whole.

How can I teach under these circumstances? What do I tell my students who ask how/why the new black belt promoted? What do I do when they act like a black belt does not mean anything anymore? I don't know how to deal with these things, because I feel that belts don't mean anything at my school now, with him promoting all different people to different belts who don't deserve it. How do I deal with her being an instructor, when I don't want her to go teach any belt level? They will learn horrible habits if they are lower belts, or become annoyed and skeptical of the art if they are higher belts who understand that she has no idea what she's talking about.

Sorry for the long post, but this is really bothering me. I feel like this is "my school" and now I can't defend it's legitimacy to any of the lower belts.

[ShotokanKid]

Have you talked to the original instructor and discussed the situation with him?

[tkdBill]

If the black belt went on his own and decided to pass her in spite of objections by the other black belts, you have a legitimate beef. You need to talk to your instructor about the incident and ask him to be up front with you about the pecking order.

If you cannot trust your co-instructors to uphold standards and be fair, you may have to reconsider your association with this club.

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[MasterH]

Yup, I was half way thru your post when I came up with the same solution TKDbill came up with. Time to end your relationship with this club. I'm confused is it a club (part time) or a school (full time, multiple classes)? If you don't agree with the ligit school (club) chief instructor, start your own club, or simply find another. I know it sucks, but it happens.

[taiji fajin]

I had . . . . issues with the way the old instructor who left treated women, to put it mildly, and he also took a large chunk of money that wasn't his. This has led to some tension between him and a few of us who did not just sit back and let him do illegal and immoral things. The black belt who is a problem now is more than willing to turn a blind eye to what the old instructor did, which means the old instructor will always back him up over me.

There is another high ranked person I might be able to talk to, but the old instructor has his ear more than I do, so that is a really risky route to take.

I would like to stay in this organization, as I think it *can* be run very well and I have a lot of friends in it, I am just having serious issues with this particular co-instructor, and the politics of the martial art are hampering my ability to deal with it.

To answer MasterH, it is an odd combination. It is technically a university club, but it is part of a martial arts organization like any other school in that organization, subject to all of its politics.

[tkdBill]

In that case you need to run away from that club and your old instructor. No decent instructor is dishonest and a thief. Integrity is a tenent of my style (taekwondo). I'm quite certain that integrity is essential in all martial arts.

You must be able to trust your instructor! Without that, you have nothing.

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[MasterH]

TKDbill is correct.

[y2_sub]

The only advice i can give is : Open your own school . Good luck

[White Warlock]

Umm, i'm with Master H and tkdBill here... mutiny is not the answer, primarily because of this:

To compensate for his loss, the rest of us black belt instructors did something very similar to you, having all of us work as a team and appointing one of us to handle all the official dealings.

KempoTiger, in your school the BBs 'appointed' the lead. In his club, the old instructor 'appointed' the lead. A huge difference that will very likely cause a blow-up if a mutiny is attempted. All-in-all, you will show something 'far worse' to your students by acting this way.

No, here are my opinions. It is very possible that the lead instructor wasn't aware of all the other instructors feelings on this, and may very well not have been paying attention to whether this woman was qualified to obtain a BB. Granted, this is not good, and he should be ashamed of himself (which is far different than others posing 'guilt' on him). However, it is also very possible that this woman recognized the resistance by the other BBs and decided to 'bypass' them, going instead to the lead instructor and getting him, through fanciful manueverings, to authorize her obtaining a belt. All the while, he could have been clueless of the game she played, and may very well still be clueless.

It might be the most prudent route to have a 'meeting' with the other instructors, including the lead instructor. The goal here should not be to 'win' or 'lose,' but to find a solution to this dilemna. If, indeed, the solution is for you and others to make their own club, disassociated from this lead instructor, then so be it... but i think the better solution would be to keep an open mind and discuss it at an open meeting with the lead and the other BBs... outside of the dojo.

Within the dojo, the lead has all the authority. You cannot effectively 'communicate' your concerns on an issue without feeling as if he may pull out the ugly stick of social embarrassment. In a meeting outside of the dojo, things can be handled without such inappropriate utilities.

Now, if that meeting does not provide an amenable solution for the 'majority' of the instructors, then i think it is warranted that you bring this issue up to the old instructor... in the same manner you did with the lead instructor. I.e., you have another meeting, with all the instructors, the lead instructor, and the old instructor.

If this doesn't provide resolution, then do the healthy thing, and move on. The arts are to grow with, not to become a wound in the qualitative state of your environment. Find, or create, an environment that fosters, rather than festers.

[Adonis]

I would leave to much drama for me.